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Sunday, Mar. 26 3:00pm ET
Gatling's last-second putback lifts Denver | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Chris Gatling not only gave the Denver Nuggets a rare and improbable road win with a last-second shot, he also might have killed the playoff chances of his old team, the New Jersey Nets. Gatling put in an off-balance rebound with less than a second to play and the Nuggets rallied from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Nets 112-110 Sunday, snapping a four-game losing streak and a nine-game skid on the road. "It's good to get a win, any win," said Gatling, a New Jersey native who was traded by the Nets last year as part of a three-team, nine-player deal that brought Stephon Marbury to the Garden State. "It's not that special beating New Jersey, after all I've played on a whole lot of teams," the eight-year player added. "But it's nice to come home and play well in front of my friends and family." Gatling's friends saw the Nuggets hit six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and outscore New Jersey 28-9 in the final 6:52 in winning for only the 20th time in 142 road games over the past four seasons. Nick Van Exel led the way scoring 10 of his 28 points in the final 12 minutes. He also had 12 assists. Raef LaFrentz added 22 points, 18 rebounds and seven of the Nuggets' 12 blocks. James Posey added 21 points and Gatling had 20 in a backup role, with his final two dropping New Jersey five games behind Orlando in the race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. "Anything I can do to help," Gatling quipped. "Actually, they looked a little tired. I thought they were a little flat." Keith Van Horn and Johnny Newman each had 20 points for the Nets, who lost their third straight and fourth in five games. Orlando (35-36) beat Miami 94-69 Sunday. "This game was unacceptable," said Marbury, who had 16 points and 11 assists. "We just lost a game we shouldn't have lost. We started coasting. We got relaxed. Then, in the end, they put on a performance, hitting 3s from everywhere." The Nets (29-40) tied it at 110 when Scott Burrell put in the rebound of a Marbury miss with 6.5 seconds to play. After a timeout, the Nuggets inbounded at midcourt. Gatling took the pass low on the right wing and drove across the lane, missing a left-handed hook. George McCloud tipped the rebound from the right side of the basket to the left and Gatling caught the ball and banked it in with five-tenths of a second left. "This was a killer game," said Nets coach Don Casey, who has seen his team lose eight games this season in which they have led by at least 11 points. New Jersey never got a final shot as Keon Clark blocked Burrell's inbounds pass at midcourt. The Nets, who trailed by 18 in the first quarter, seemed to have the game in hand when they outscored Denver 30-17 in the third to turn a four-point halftime deficit into an 86-77 lead. A pair of 3-pointers by Burrell helped increase the lead to 99-81 early in the fourth. "When we went down by 18, I thought we were in trouble," Van Exel said. "But then we started making shots, hitting those 3s and the momentum just turned around." The lead was 101-84 after Evan Eschmeyer converted a 3-point play with 7:07 to go, but Denver, which has struggled with its shooting and scoring recently, went on a 23-5 run that featured two 3-pointers apiece by Van Exel and Posey and one by McCloud. Posey's second 3 gave Denver a 107-106 lead with 2:10 to play. Marbury put New Jersey ahead 108-107 with two free throws with 1:52 to play before Gatling converted a three-point play with 56 seconds left for a 110-108 Denver lead. Antonio McDyess, Denver's leading scorer with a 19.3 average, only played 14 minutes because of a sprained left ankle and scored four points. The Nuggets came in averaging 79.8 points and just 36 percent shooting (114-of-318) in losing their last four. Game notesAn MRI exam on Nets starting center Jim McIlvaine disclosed a bulging disc. He tried to warm up, but did not dress. ... Clark's first-half blocked shot gave the Nuggets three players (LaFrentz and McDyess) with at least 100 blocks this season for the first time in their history. They are the 10th NBA team to do it, the last being the Nets in 1992-93 with Sam Bowie, Derrick Coleman and Chris Dudley. ... Denver is 7-28 on the road. ... The win was also Denver's first in New Jersey since Feb. 17, 1990. They had lost eight consecutive games at the Continental Airlines Arena. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse New Jersey Clubhouse RECAPS Orlando 94 Miami 69
Denver 112
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